Lost Soul
by MelodyWolfhart
Summary: COMPLETE. Rachel White finds that her Aunt and Uncle have moved into a strange factory. Once inside, she grows attached to Charlie and Willy Wonka, but she has a problem. There's a secret to her past, but Wonka is willing to help her, at all costs.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The only character I own is Rachel White. All other characters are property of someone else. I'm just using them for fun, so don't sue.**

**AN:This my first fanfic, I wrote it in a days time, but I've been working it over in my mind ever since watching Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. Please R&R. And of course, enjoy.**

**Lost Soul**

**by MelodyWolfhart**

Chapter 1

Rachel stood in front of the empty lot, her old worn out backpack slung over one shoulder. She wore a look of confusion upon her face. She knew that her Aunt and Uncle had a house in this very lot, but by the looks of it, the house no longer stood there. There was a voice from behind her, and she turned to see an old woman.

"Are you by chance looking for the Buckets?"

"I am, where did they go?"

"They live in the factory now?"

"What factory?"

"The Wonka Chocolate Factory."

Rachel looked at this random woman, and then looked down the main street to the chocolate factory. Still confused, she thanked the woman, and started to walk towards the factory. Questions raced through her mind as she grew closer, but when she reached the gates, her mind cleared.

The gates were locked, but that was no problem for her. She was able to get into more secure places without a problem. What worried her was why her Aunt and Uncle were now living in this strange factory. Deciding that she would concern herself of these matters later, she looked the gate over.

There was no lock, but you could not easily open it either. Rachel looked up and decided not to climb the gates. Instead she jiggled the gates and saw that they were loose enough for her to slip through. Taking a step back, she took off her backpack and threw it over the gates, then she pushed on the right gate with all of her strength. Holding her breath, she slipped through and picked up her bag.

Getting into the factory was not hard at all, the door was left unlocked, and she easily found her way into the entrance hall. Rachel looked around the hallway as she followed the red carpet towards a door that she assumed led to the rest of the factory. At first, she thought that her imagination was playing a trick on her as the hall seemed to get smaller. But as she ventured forward, it was quickly evident that it was truly happening.

When Rachel reached the door at the end of the hallway, she had to kneel down. Confused, she pushed the door open and saw the chocolate room. It took away her breath, and she did not even notice that she could easily walk through the formally too small door.

As she entered the magnificent room, the smell of chocolate assaulted her. Her stomach yearned for food, but she did not touch the delicious scenery. Walking carefully through the room, she searched for any sign of people. All the while, she knew that if she met up with the wrong person, she could be in a lot of trouble for trespassing. As this thought crossed her mind, she heard a sound from behind her.

Knowing how to deal with this situation, Rachel did not turn to look at whomever was behind her, but instead ran.She could not return the way she had come, since she figured whoever had spotted her would get in her way. She sprinted through the candy trees, desperately trying not to damage anything. She was halfway across the room when she stopped dead. Standing in front of her was her Aunt and Uncle's house. Thoughts of running from her pursuer fled from her mind as she looked with disbelief. Slowly, she approached the little cottage and walked up to the door. Not knowing what she would say, she just opened the it. Inside, her Aunt looked up at her from the kitchen stove.

"Rachel? Is that you? How in earth did you get here?"

"Hello to you too, Aunt Bucket."

Mother Bucket ran over to Rachel and embraced her. Rachel stood there, excepting the hug, but when her Aunt was done, she stepped back. Mother Bucket looked her over with an approving smile.

"You've grow so much since the last time I saw you. How did you ever find us here?"

"Some town folk told me. I got into the factory easily enough, but I think someone was chasing me."

"You probable mean the Oompa Loompas. You wouldn't havebe able to see them since they're so small."

"What?"

"I'll explain later. But come in and make yourself at home. I bet you've had a long journey and that you're probably starving."

Mother Bucket led Rachel into the cottage and sat her at the table. Rachel was offered food and she gladly took it. Halfway through her makeshift meal, the cottage door swung open and Charlie rushed in.

"Mom! The Oompa Loompas just said that someone was in the factory and..."

Charlie stopped as he saw Rachel sitting at the table. There was an awkward silence as Charlie looked at Rachel for the first time. He didn't know who she was, for he did not know he had a cousin.

"Charlie, this is your cousin Rachel. You've never met her. The last time she was here, you weren't even born. I don't even think she knew you existed."

"I didn't. But it's a nice surprise. Hi, Charlie. It's nice to meet you." Rachel said as she stood up to greet him.

Without warning, Charlie ran over and embraced her. A smile formed on Rachel's face from this act of random love. When Rachel looked up from Charlie, she saw that a strange man was standing in the doorway. Charlie let go of Rachel and turned to face him.

"Willy, she's my cousin. I didn't even know I had one."

Rachel looked at him for a moment. He was dressed in a crimsonvelvet coat and was carrying a cane. A black satin top hat sat upon his head. He walked into the cottage and looked at her with a childish interest. As he approached her, keeping his distance of course, he smiled.

"My name's Willy Wonka. Welcome to my factory. What's your name?"

Rachel looked at him with disbelief as he circled her.

"My name is Rachel White. It's nice to meet you Mr. Wonka. You know, the last time I was in this town, your factory was closed for five years. I was quite surprised to see that it was open again. When did you reopen?"

He did not answer her, but instead sat at the table. Charlie followed suit and sat across from him. Rachel stood there, feeling like she had missed something very important. Wonka and Charlie started to talk about some new candy idea while she stood there, looking at them.

"I guess I'll just go outside for a while and check things out." Rachel said, starting to leave the cottage. Charlie looked up at her with an excited smile.

"Why don't we give you a tour? It would be lots of fun. Come on, Willy." Charlie said as he stood up from the table.

"It would be great, but Charlie, you have to finish your homework that you've been neglecting for so long. Why doesn't Mr. Wonka take her? He does know the factory better than you." Mother Bucket said to Charlie.

"Mom, can't you just let me do that later? I want to be with my cousin. I just met her." Charlie pleaded.

"Honey, you have a while to catch up with her. I just want your homework to get done."

"Okay, mom." Charlie said, returning to his normally good natured self.

Charlie looked at Mr. Wonka and waited for him to stand up and take Rachel for a tour. Rachel noticed that he did not seem to want to take her anywhere, so she tried to refuse the offer.

"I don't really need a tour. It's quite alright if Mr. Wonka doesn't want to take me through his factory."

"Don't be silly, dear. He'll happily take you. And when you return, you can catch up with Charlie. I'm sure he's eager to here of your journey, as am I." Mother Bucket said, shooing her out the door. Shortly, Mr. Wonka followed her out.

"You really don't have to take me anywhere, I've seen enough just being in this room."

"But there's so much more to see. Of course, a proper tour would take at least a week. But we have time. Let's start." Mr. Wonka said with some excitement.

"Actually, Mr. Wonka, we don't have that much time."

"Call me Willy. Anyone who's family of Charlie is my family too."

"Mr. Wonka..."

"Willy."

"Willy, you don't really know my situation."

"Very well, let the tour start. We'll take the boat for the first part. Then maybe the glass elevator. This is going to be so much fun!"

Wonka started to walk away from her towards what looked like a chocolate river. He did not seem to hear anything that she had tried to say. Running to catch up to him, she realized that he had started explaining everything around him.

"Everything in this room is eatable. And that waterfall mixes the chocolate so it is nice and frothy. No other chocolate factory in the world uses this method and you can take that to the bank."

"Mr. Wonka..."

"Willy."

"Sorry, but Willy, there's no really reason to give me a tour. I'd rather be with my family right now."

"And over here are my workers. They're Oompa Loompas. And I saved them from Loompaland."

"Mr. Wonka! Please stop."

Wonka turned to her, his broad smile seeming to falter a bit.

"I told you, call me Willy."

"You said that any family of Charlie's should call you Willy."

"Yes, so what's the problem? I don't understand."

"You don't need too. I'm trying to tell you that I just want to be with my family right now. I'm leaving tomorrow morning, so there's no reason to give me a tour."

"Why would you possibly want to leave so soon. This place is wonderful."

"I didn't come here to see a factory, I just wanted to see my Aunt and Uncle."

"Oh. 'kay. Well then, I guess we should go back to the cottage." Wonka said with disappointment.

They retraced the short way they had come and reentered the cottage. Mother Bucket turned with surprise.

"Why are you two back so soon?"

"Aunt, I just need to talk to you and my Uncle. I'm leaving tomorrow, and..."

"Tomorrow, what for? You look so tired. You can't possibly want to leave so quickly."

"I need to talk to you and Uncle Bucket."

Mother Bucket looked at her and realized that this was rather important, so she turned to Charlie and Wonka.

"Well, boys. I think that you should go and try to find Father Bucket. Rachel and I need some time to talk."

Mother Bucket said this with some concern. Charlie and Wonka took this as their cue to leave, as Rachel sat down at the table and faced Mother Bucket.

"So what's so important that you came all the way here, just so you could leave tomorrow?" Mother Bucket said, sitting across from her.

"It's about your sister." Rachel said.

**AN: Hope you enjoyed. I already have the next couple chapters written, I just need to find time to edit them. But until then, don't be shy. Please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Once again, all I own is Rachel White. All other characters are the property of someone else.**

**AN: I know that I was going to wait to add the next chapter, but a mix of insomnia and impatience changed my mind. Hope you enjoy the next exciting installment and don't forget to R&R.**

Chapter 2

Charlie and Wonka stood outside the cottage, confused for the moment.After giving each other a look, theystarted towards the chocolate waterfall in search for Father Bucket.

"I don't understand. Why would she only come here for a day. I never even knew she existed and I won't even get a chance to really meet her." Charlie said in disappointment.

"She's really odd, isn't she?" Wonka said.

"Ha, that's funny." Charlie stated.

"What?"

"You calling her odd."

"What do you mean by that?" Wonka asked innocently.

"Nevermind." Charlie said with a laugh.

They looked for Father Bucket, and found him rather easily. They told him to return to the cottage at once because Rachel was there. At first Father Bucket did not understand why they wanted him to hurry, but when they told him that she wasn't staying long, he decided to move faster.

The group returned to the cottage, but Charlie and Wonka stayed outside. Charlie sat down in the eatable grass right beside Wonka andthey were silent and still until Mother Bucket came out of the cottage.

"Boys, come on in for some lunch, but be quiet. Rachel's sleeping."

They both stood up and saw that Mother Bucket's face was red as if she had been crying.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"Nothing Charlie, now get in here and eat. Rachel's sleeping in your bed right now. She's so tired that she was out the minute she hit the bed." Mother Bucket said this with a forced smile and beckoned the two in.

Their lunch together was indeed a silent one. After finishing his lunch, Charlie crept up to his room to get his notebook. He kept all his ideas in this notebook, and he needed it if he was going to do some more work today.

When he first stepped into his room, he saw Rachel curled up on his bed. She looked as if nothing would wake her. And with some concern, he realized that his bed was too short for her. He grabbed his notebook and went downstairs to his mother.

"Mom, Rachel's too tall for my bed."

"I know dear, but where else would she be able to sleep?"

"She could always sleep in one of the guest rooms." Wonka offered. "I could get the Oompa Loompas to carry her."

"Willy, that's nice and all, but I don't think she'd appreciate being carried around by the Oompa Loompas. I don't even think she's ever saw one yet." Said Mother Bucket.

"You're right. Well, then, Charlie and I will take her right now."

"You shouldn't wake her."

"Don't worry mom. I don't think anyone could wake her now." Charlie said.

* * *

Rachel woke up and looked around her strange new surroundings. The light was very dim and she distinctly smelled gumdrops. She stood up and got out of the comfortable bed with some reluctance. She had told her Aunt and Uncle that she would be leaving in the morning, and by looking out the window, she realized that it was indeed morning. She guessed that it was around two in the morning, but she knew she had to leave before they convinced her to stay longer. 

She had fallen asleep in Charlie's bed, but she figured that someone carried her to this wonderful room. Her backpack sat in a chair next to the bed and she grabbed it, looking through it to make sure she had all of her belongings. Satisfied that she had everything, she left the room.

The factory was huge, and Rachel realized that it might not be very easy to find her way out, but she did. Outside, the wind was cold. Her body longed for the warmth of the factory, but she had to leave. At the gates, she threw her backpack over them and then slid threw like she did the day before.

Although there was little light, Rachel was able to make her way through the town easily. After a couple blocks, she realized that someone was following her. She could hear the tapping of shoes behind her. She did not turn around, but instead quickened her pace. She came to a corner where a street lamp was burnt out and that was when someone grabbed her. It was not the same person that was following her. Instead, it was a man who was standing underneath the street lamp.

"Aren't you pretty. You shouldn't be out at this hour. You could get hurt." said the greasy voice.

Rachel had been in situations like this before, and she knew that she could get out of it easily. She kneed the man in the stomach and was about to hit him again when a voice called out her name.

"Rachel!"

She recognized this voice. She turned and saw Willy Wonka standing there, looking shocked.

"Get out of here, I can handle this!" Rachel screamed out as her assailant pulled her back by her hair.

Before she could do anything, the man had a knife to her neck. She could see Wonka looking at her, not knowing what to do. She hated having him see her like this. Rachel was surprised when he came running towards the man with his cane raised. His attack seemed childish to her, but the man let her go and brandished his knife towards Wonka.

Rachel fell to the snowy sidewalk as Wonka tried to hit the man with his cane. Unfortunately, he did not think his attack out fully and he missed as he swung. The cane flew out of his hands and hit the ground next to her. The assailant stabbed at Wonka but only succeeded in cutting his arm.

Rachel quickly grabbed the cane and ran to hit the man. He was stronger than she expected, and he grabbed the cane from her easily. Abandoning the cane idea, she lunged for him, but he hit her in the face. She remembered falling as she blacked out.

* * *

When Rachel came to, she was not sure what had happened until she heard the struggle next to her. She was not out for long, but she saw that the man was now on top of Wonka, trying to stab him. Wonka was holding the man's arms, trying to stop him, but was losing the battle. Feeling slightly light headed, Rachel grabbed the cane once more and slowly stood up. 

The assailant did not see her do this, and when she swung at him, she hit him squarely on the head. He was out instantly, and Wonka rolled the man off of him with a look of disgust on his face. Rachel feel back onto the ground and she could hear that Wonka was panting. Laughter erupted out of her unexpectantly.

"What's...so...funny?" Wonka panted.

"I...don't...know." Rachel said, unable to stifle her laughter.

She laid in the snow for awhile until she was able to contain herself. Once her laughing fit was done, she stood up on weak legs. Wonka followed suit. Rachel had a sharp pain in her leg and when she looked down, she saw that the man had cut her.

"Why did you follow me?" Rachel said, hopping over to the lamp post to steady herself.

"I didn't think you should leave without saying goodbye. And Charlie would have been upset if he didn't have a bit more time with you. It's a good thing that I followed you too, 'cause you would have gotten hurt." Wonka said as he grabbed his cane out of the snow.

"I would have been fine if you didn't distract me." Rachel mumbled under her breath.

"What did you say? You really shouldn't mumble." Wonka said to her.

"I said that I have to keep going. Goodbye." Rachel said this and tried to walk away, but she almost fell as soom as she let go of the lamp post.

Wonka rushed over to help her, but backed away before they touched. Rachel was able to grab hold of the lamp post quickly before she fell, but she turned and looked at Wonka with curiosity.

"What, don't you like to touch people?" She asked sarcastically.

"Actually, I don't. You can't leave in the condition you are in, you have to come back to the factory." Wonka said.

"I can't, I have to keep going." Rachel said.

"Nonsense. Here, you can use my cane to help you walk." Wonka said, handing the cane to her.

"Thanks." She said, sardonically.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I only own Rachel White. All other characters are the property of some other lucky person.**

**AN: Insomnia did it again. The rest of the chapters are written, I just need to edit them. Please review to let me know if I should keep posting. Enjoy!**

Chapter 3

Back in the factory, Rachel sat at the table of the little cottage with Wonka across from her. When they arrived back, Wonka hurriedly awoke Mother Bucket. When she saw the bruise on the side of Rachel's face, she nearly screamed. But she did scream when she saw the cut on Wonka's arm and Rachel's leg.

"What were you thinking? Look at this mess. You could have really gotten hurt." Mother Bucket exclaimed as she helped clean up the wounds.

"I would have been fine. I've gotten out of worse. It's just that when Mr. Wonka..."

"Willy." Wonka interjected.

"... yelled my name, I was distracted." Rachel finished.

"I know that. It's just the motherly side of me coming out. But you shouldn't leave until your leg is healed properly." Mother Bucket stated.

"Fine, but as soon as I can, I _have_ to go." Rachel said, leaving it at that.

When Charlie woke up and saw the condition that Rachel and Wonka were in, he immediately wanted to know what happened. Mother Bucket explained it to him over breakfast. When they were finished, Charlie insisted on helping Rachel back to her room. Wonka accompanied them both, careful not to touch Rachel, but at least trying to help.

When they made it there, Rachel gasped as she saw her room in the better light. It was so colorful and everything looked delicious. The rumpled sheets on the bed consisted of bright colors that reminded her of gumdrops and there were several armchairs around the room that resembled multicolored marshmellows.

"This is quite amazing, Mr. Wonka..."

"Willy."

"Not only are you a great chocolatier, but you're a wonderful decorator." Rachel said with a laugh.

She hopped over to the bed and grabbed the top sheet. Charlie realized what she was trying to do and helped her make the bed. Wonka sat down in one of the many colorful arm chairs and watched them. He felt as if he was an outsider at that moment. He knew that Charlie's family had welcomed him with open arms, but he still didn't have this connection with them. Two days ago, Charlie didn't even know that Rachel existed, and now he had excepted her into his life as if she was always there.

After the bed was made, Rachel carefully sat down on it. Charlie sat next to her and looked at her with anticipation. Rachel noticed his stare, and knew what he was thinking.

"Shouldn't you two be making candy or something?" Rachel asked, trying to stay away from the subject Charlie wanted to know about.

"I think Charlie and I could take a day off. He's never gotten time to spend with you and he really should. But I could leave if you'd like." Wonka said as he started to get up.

"No, Willy, stay. You're part of this family now, so you should be able to spend time with her too." Charlie said and then focused his attention onto Rachel.

"Okay, what do you want to know?" Rachel asked, giving up.

"Where have you been all this time? Why didn't I ever hear about you?" Charlie asked excitedly.

"I lived in America, and I don't know why you've never heard about me. Probably for the same reason that I had never heard of you. I used to visit your parents at least once a year, but that stopped about fifteen years ago."

"Why did you stop coming?"

"My family was not as poor as yours, but they still wanted me to come here every year. But that stopped when they died."

"They died? I had an Aunt and Uncle that I didn't know about, and they died? When?"

"Fifteen years ago, Charlie. It's taken me that long to get here from America. And I was never able to send a letter either. I didn't know your address. I mean, I could easily find your house if I was in town, but I never knew your actual address." Rachel said with a laugh.

"Where did you live in America?"

"I lived with your Aunt and Uncle in California. But after they died, I lived everywhere. It took me so long to travel from the Californian coast all the way to New York. I had so many jobs that it's not even funny. It was difficult to raise enough money to live on and at the same time save up enough for a plane ticket to get here. You're the only family that I know of."

"It must have been really hard for you." Wonka said, thinking of his own experiences of what happened to him when he ran away from home.

"It was, but I've had some good experiences too. I wouldn't be the person I am today if it wasn't for those fifteen years." Rachel said, looking at Wonka with a smile.

"Tell me some stories about your journey here." Charlie asked with excitement.

"I will. But first I would like to hear your story. How did you come to know Mr. Wonka..."

"Willy." Reminded Wonka.

"And why do you live in this factory now?"

Charlie told her his story eagerly. He explained the contest and what had happened to each of the children. He explained how he first refused Wonka's offer and then how they both went to see his father, who was a dentist. He smiled as he finished by telling how they moved the cottage into the factory. After he was done, he looked at Rachel. She was smiling and laughing.

"That's quite an amazing story, Charlie. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see this factory for myself. I'm sorry, but none of my stories are that good." Rachel said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

"I still want to here your story. I want to hear the whole thing." Charlie exclaimed.

"Well, I don't believe we have enough time for that, I could only tell you little parts anyway. I've been to so many places that it all seems a blur to me."

"You must remember some stories." Charlie insisted.

"I do, but they're not ones that I'd like to remember. I can remember certain places I've been to, though. Like I lived in Lancaster with an Amish family for a little bit. And then I went to Philadelphia. That was very scary. It was such a long time since I was in a big city and I was almost killed there. But that's not a story that I should be telling now."

Charlie looked at her with amazement, and Wonka looked at her with some worry.

"It must have been exciting to have been to so many places." Charlie said, obviously thinking of how it would actually be.

"Charlie, you should count yourself lucky that you have such a loving family and such a wonderful home. You're lucky to have Mr. Wonka looking over you. Never leave the people who love you." Rachel said, growing serious.

"I wouldn't dream of it." said Charlie.

"I think it's time for lunch." said Wonka, still looking at Rachel with concern.

"Yeah, you two go ahead, I'm not really hungry. I should probably get some sleep." said Rachel.

Charlie agreed and he ran out of the room. Wonka made as to follow him, but when Charlie was gone, he turned back to Rachel.

"What are you hiding?" Wonka asked.

"Mr. Wonka, sometimes there are things that should be left unsaid. Charlie would be happier without this knowledge. Now you should go for some lunch." Rachel said, getting out of the bed and hopping over to the window to look out at the town.

"How did your parents die?" Wonka asked, walking over to her.

"I don't know. Leave it at that." Rachel said, and as she looked out the window, a smile formed on her face.

"How can you smile now?" Wonka asked in amazement.

"Because sometimes all I have is my humor. You live in a world where you are always a child, and so do I. But I handle life with more of an adult outlook. I smile because I still can. And I dread the day that I am no longerable to smile." Rachel said and then turned to look into his violet eyes.

"I wish I had such a loving family as you do. I'm just an outsider." Wonka said as he turned away from her.

"They're not my family."

"What?" Wonka asked, turning back to her quickly.

"Mr. Wonka, it's a complicated story. And it's not one that you need to hear. Go for lunch before Charlie starts to wonder where you are."

Wonka looked at her, and then decided to leave. He went to the Chocolate room and into the Bucket's cottage. The entire family, including Charlie's grandparents, looked strained. The only exception was Charlie, for he looked estatic from the story telling earlier. Wonka realized that this had to do with Rachel's coming. He decided that if her presence here would make everyone unhappy, then maybe it would be better for her to go. He would talk to her privately after lunch.

**AN: Please be kind and review. I'd like some feedback about what people think. All reviews are welcome, just _try_ to keep them nice. Thanks.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I only own Rachel White. All other characters are the property of some other lucky person.**

**AN: I should really be writing a Comp essay and catching up on my Musis Theory, but this is too much fun. I just can't stop. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.**

Wonka returned to Rachel's room by himself. Charlie was in the Inventing Room now, and Wonka was impatient to join him, but he knew he had to talk to Rachel first. He knocked on the door and when there was no answer, he turned the knob and saw that it was unlocked. He stepped into the room, expecting Rachel to be gone.

"Probably left after all." he said out loud.

But then he realized that she was sitting on the window ledge, looking out over the town. She did not turn to him when he had said that, or even when he called her name, so he walked over to her. She looked sad and it was as if she was in a different world.

"Rachel." Wonka said as he reluctantly touched her shoulder.

Rachel jumped at his touch, and turned to look at him. A smile formed on her face automatically.

"Hello, Mr. Wonka. Sorry, I guess I was off in my own world again. That happens sometimes. Can I help you?" Rachel said, turning towards him.

Wonka looked at her with confusion for a second. He did not fully understand what he had just witnessed. He knew that sometimes he seems to be off in his own world, Charlie had told him so. But that was just a figure of speech. What he just saw looked like she was truly in another world. It sent a chill up his spine as he thought of her quick change from sadness to happiness.

"Are you alright?" Wonka asked.

"Yes, of course I am. Now what did you want?" Rachel asked politely.

"I wanted to ask you about what you said earlier." Wonka said.

"Ah, yes. I suspected that you would be back. I guess you would like an explanation. Well, sit down then. I guess what you want to hear is not that important, but I would rather Charlie not know until he's older."

"What is it?"

"As you suspected, I've been hinting towards this. I'm not really Charlie's family. I was adopted when I was about Charlie's age. Even Charlie's parents did not know of this adoption until yesterday. For the longest time, they believed me to be true family." Rachel confessed.

"Well, that's not that bad." Wonka said, relieved that it was nothing worse.

"But there is more. Charlie's Aunt and Uncle died because of me. It's hard to explain, but the only reason that they died was because they gave me a home." Rachel said, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"How did it happen?" Wonka asked, quietly.

"I don't know. I had been gone for a couple days and when I went home and saw that there were police surrounding the house. No one really knew that they had a child because my adoption was illegal, so they didn't know that they should have been looking for me. That was the last day I saw that beautiful home. I just kept moving after that. I don't know the circumstances of their deaths, but I do know that it was my fault." Rachel said, crying now.

"You can't blame yourself for something you didn't do." Wonka said, trying to comfort.

"I can't stay here any longer."

"Do you hate me?"

"No, of course not." Rachel said, shocked by the question. "You're the sweetest man that I've ever met, but I need to leave. It's in my blood. It's just a part of me. I know that sounds weird, but it's true. I have no family here, so I have no reason to stay."

"You make me happy." Wonka said.

"What?"

"When you were with us earlier, and when you made Charlie happy, you made me happy too."

"You're such a child!"

"I know, isn't it great?" Wonka said with a laugh.

"You know, I don't remember anything from before I lived with Charlie's family. Nine years of my life are a complete blank. And that scares me sometimes. But I know one thing for certain about my early years. I never had a permanent home. I was always on the move, as I am now. Even when I lived with Charlie's Aunt and Uncle, I could not stay there for long. I would leave for days at a time, but I would always come back. The first time I did that to them, they were so worried about me, but they soon got used to it. And I've always known that I did not belong to that family, but I would try to by pretending. There's no reason to keep pretending anymore, I guess. All I know is that I must keep moving." Rachel said, seeming to go back into that other world.

"I don't understand." Wonka said.

"It's okay, Mr. Wonka, sometimes I don't understand either."

"Rachel, please call me Willy. Even if you aren't truly part of Charlie's family, I still want you to call me Willy." Wonka said with a smile.

"Okay, Willy. I'm sorry that I deceived you before." Rachel said, as she stood up from where she was sitting.

"Why don't you come to the Inventing Room with me? Charlie's already there." Wonka said, also standing up.

"Sure, it sounds fun. But I won't be able to walk too fast." Rachel said, hopping over to Wonka.

"Then we'll take the glass elevator."

"Glass?" Rachel asked, her eyebrows going up.

She followed Willy out of her room, using his cane that he had lent her, for balance. He would still not touch her, but she didn't really mind. He directed her to the glass elevator and they both got in.

"Is this entirely made of glass?" Rachel asked as Willy pressed the one button.

"Of course. Who would make a glass elevator out of anything else?" Willy said as the elevator went up.

Rachel looked down and saw nothing below her. A deep fear inside her was unleashed.

"Oh, God!"

Rachel screamed as she grabbed hold of Willy. He stiffened as she threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. He could feel that she was trembling and he slowly put one arm around her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, still stiff.

"Heights. Don't like. Can't look." Rachel said into Willy's chest.

He understood what her problem was now. She was afraid of heights and of course the glass elevator would be a terrifying experience for her. He relaxed a little the longer she held onto him. When the elevator made a sudden drop, she screamed again and held him tighter.

"We're almost there." Willy said, now putting his other arm around her.

As he stood there, holding her, he noticed that he liked it. He saw a reflection of the both of them in the glass, and began to smile. Laying his head on top of hers, he realized that he loved the scent of her hair. He held her like that until the elevator stopped. When they finally reached the inventing room, Willy let go of her. She backed away and looked at him. She was still shaking, but her smile was as beautiful as ever. Beautiful? Had Willy actually thought that? But it was true, she had a beautiful smile, and he couldn't help but to think that. They walked into the inventing room and Charlie ran over to them.

"I was wondering when you'd get here. I just thought of this great idea!" Charlie exclaimed as he dragged Willy away.

Rachel noticed that Willy had let himself be touched and he didn't even flinch. She wondered if he knew that he didn't always have that problem. Slowly, she walked through the room, looking at everything there was. While looking at the one machine, she heard a noise behind her. When she turned around to find out what that noise was, she saw a little man looking up at her.

Her first reaction was to scream, but she didn't. Instead she bent down to the man and smiled.

"Who are you?" She asked, but he did not answer.

"That's an Oompa Loompa." said Willy, who was now standing behind her. "They work here."

"Oh, okay. Don't they speak English?" Rachel asked standing up.

"No, but they understand it. Strange, huh? But they're really good workers." Willy said, and then returned to his work.

Rachel stayed with them until dinner, and then they walked back to the Chocolate room together. Throughout dinner, Willy would look at Rachel with a new interest. Something inside of him had changed when he was confronted with someone else's fears. Willy already knew how to love, but this was different. Yes, he loved Charlie and his family, and he even loved the Oompa Loompas, but he only knew about the love of a family. The thought of loving someone other than a family member never seemed to have cross his mind. He once again looked over at Rachel, and she raised her head, smiling back at him. His heart seemed to melt.

**AN: One more chapter down, still lots more to edit. Let me know what you think, so please review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I only own Rachel White. All the good characters are owned by some other lucky person.**

**AN: With most of my work done, I have more time for editing, and unexpectantly, for writing too. I thought that this story would be over in another two chapters, but I was wrong, so posts might start to slow down. To answer the one question, Rachel is almost 29. I was going to answer that later in the story, but it's not really that important. I know that Wonka is supposed to be about 40, but for the sake of this story, I like to think of him being about 35 or so.**

Rachel woke up from a terrible nightmare. She had to leave, she couldn't stay here any longer. She jumped out of bed and changed her clothes quickly. Then she grabbed her backpack and left the room. Rachel knew that she was able to find her way out of the factory before, but now she seemed to be completely lost.

Rachel walked down one hall and tried each door. Most were locked, but the ones that weren't could not help her to get out of the factory. At the end of the hall, she came to a set of wooden doors. Hoping that it was a way out, she pushed one open. When she peeked in, she saw that it was a bedroom. Standing in front of a large window, was Willy, dressed in pajamas and a elaborate dressing coat. He heard the noise and turned to see her.

"Sorry." She said as she tried to close the door quickly.

"No, Rachel, stop." Willy said as he ran towards the door.

Rachel tried to hide, but the hall seemed endless and gave her no shelter. Willy caught up with her and grabbed hold of her arm. She stopped and looked at his hand.

"You touched me." She said softly.

He did not seem to hear what she had said as he stood there looking into her eyes. He did not let go of her arm as he spoke to her.

"Rachel, where are you going? Are you trying to leave again?" Willy asked, knowing the answer.

"Willy, I'm sorry, but I have to go. I can't stay here. Please let me go." Rachel said, trying to look away from him.

"Then go."

"What?" Rachel asked, looking in his eyes.

"Go, but come back. Come back to us, just like you came back to your adopted family." Willy pleaded.

"Why are you so worried that I stay here?" Rachel asked, looking into his violet eyes for the reason.

"Charlie needs you now. He wants to know you, and he would be crushed if you just left." Willy said, finally letting go of her arm.

"Then I will come back. I will try." Rachel said, backing away from him. He did not make a move to stop her again, but stood and watched her walk away.

"Don't forget, come back to us." Willy called out as she left.

* * *

Charlie had been sad for most of the day when he heard that Rachel had left. Willy tried to reassure him that she would be back, but Charlie did not believe him. So, Willy let Charlie be by himself that day. He sat at the shore of the chocolate river and remained quite until lunch time. Mother Bucket had already called him twice for lunch, but Charlie remained unmoving. Willy, seeing that Charlie was distressed, decided that he had to do something, so he sat down next to him on the river bank. 

"You know, she said she would come back." Willy said, once again.

"I don't think she's coming back, Willy. She seemed so eager to leave since she got here." Charlie said with his chin on his knee.

"She'll be back." Willy started, but was cut off by a voice behind them.

"Why aren't you guys eating lunch yet?"

Both Willy and Charlie turned around quickly to see Rachel standing there, with her worn out backpack slung over her shoulder.

"You came back." Willy said with shock.

"Of course I did, I promised I would. Now Charlie, your mom called you for lunch. Get going." Rachel said with a laugh.

Charlie smiled and obeyed her. As he ran towards the cottage, Willy stood up and looked at Rachel.

"I really didn't think you would come back, and not this quickly."

"But I did. I reached the next town over, and the need to leave, it just left me. I knew that I could come back, and so I did. Now, I'm hungry, so let's go for some lunch." Rachel said, heading towards the cottage.

Willy followed her while thinking to himself. He knew that it must have been difficult for her to come back, but he was impressed that she was able to do it. He admired her for her strength and once again, his meal consisted of eating and looking at her beautiful smile.

* * *

Later that day, Charlie and Rachel played catch outside the cottage. Charlie had decided that he could work later, but Willy insisted that he had some business to take care of. Willy could hear Charlie's laughs throughout the Chocolate room. Deep down, he was happy that Rachel was able to return and Charlie's laugh made him decide to join them in their game instead of working. 

"Can I play?" Willy asked timidly.

"I thought you wanted to do some work." Rachel said, throwing the ball to Charlie.

"I did, but now I want to play." Willy said stubbornly.

"Fine, now we can play monkey in the middle." Rachel said as she caught the ball.

"Okay, who's the monkey?" asked Willy, taking off his coat and top hat. He set them aside with his cane and walked between Charlie and Rachel.

"You are Willy!" Charlie yelled as the ball was thrown over his head.

Even though Willy was rather tall, he could not grab hold of the ball. He laughed along with both of them as he continued to leap for it. And he almost caught it this time too, but he tripped at the last second and fell into Rachel, knocking her down.

They had been playing on a hill and when they both hit the ground, they started to roll down it, together. Laughter erupted from them during their journey down the hill, but when they made it to the bottom, Willy landed on top of her, and the laughter stopped.

Rachel looked up into his eyes, and he looked back at her. Willy knew that he should be repulsed, but he liked being this close to her. He could feel himself wanting to kiss her beautiful smiling lips, but he restrained himself. Looking into her eyes, he noticed that they were a startling blue, like an ocean, and he could feel himself drowning in them. Rachel looked up at him, knowing that this was not right, that he should be backing away from her, but she had an idea why he lingered.

"Ha! That was fun!" Willy exclaimed, eventually finding his voice.

He rolled off of her just as Charlie came running towards them.

"Are you guys alright?" Charlie panted.

"We're super." Rachel said, mimicking Willy's childish tone.

Charlie laughed and helped her up. By the time they climbed back up the hill, it was already dinner.

**AN: Another chapter done. I know it was a little shorter that usual, but I think some important stuff happened. So thanks for reading, and don't forget to review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I only own Rachel White. All other characters are the property of some other lucky person.**

**AN: This chapter is even shorter, but a lot happens. It might seem confusing, but there will be explanation later. Hope you enjoy this rather unusual installment.**

Weeks passed as Charlie got to know Rachel better. Every so often, Rachel would feel the need to leave, and she did. But she would come back in a day or two. She grew very attached to Charlie and Willy, but she knew that this life style could not be kept up for long.

Nights, before Charlie had to go to bed, consisted of Rachel sitting on her bed, telling Willy and Charlie stories of where she had gone and what she had seen, but there always seemed to be something missing from these stories. Willy noticed it, but Charlie seemed oblivious.

Everytime that Rachel would leave, Willy would stand at his window and look down at her figure, moving towards the gates. He never really thought she would come back, but he could not think of a life without her. He knew he was falling in love, but that didn't concern him. He was more concerned about Rachel's well being and why she needed to leave.

One day, she was gone, and they all knew that she would come back soon. But when she was not back for three days, they began to worry. Five days went by as they waited for her return. And on this fifth night, Willy could not sleep. He stood at his window and looked out over the town. Below him, he saw movement in the courtyard, and he realized it was Rachel. Filled with excitement, Willy ran from his room to the Chocolate room in his pajamas and dressing coat.

Rachel had just entered the chocolate room when he met up with her.

"Rachel, you had us all worried!" Willy blurted out.

"I know, I'm sorry." Rachel said, looking troubled.

"Rachel, are you okay?" Willy asked, clearly seeing that she wasn't.

"I don't know. I just don't." Rachel whispered.

"Come with me." Willy said, guiding her back to her room.

When they reached her room, he followed her in, not wanting to leave her alone. She automatically sat on the window ledge, so he pulled a chair over to sit next to her.

"Where were you all this time?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Willy asked, stunned.

"I don't know. I remember when I left...I really needed to leave...but that's it. I don't even know how long I was gone." Rachel said, seemingly in her own world.

"What's wrong with you?" Willy asked, and for the first time since she returned, Rachel looked up at him.

"When someone says the word soul, what do you think of?" Rachel asked with a distressed face.

"What? A... A soul is what makes us live." Willy tried to explain.

"Do you think someone's soul could be lost?"

"No, how would they live?" Willy said, worried about where she was going with this.

"They would live horribly, that's how. Always searching for what they were missing." Rachel said, looking out the window again.

"Rachel, what are you talking about?" Willy asked with concern.

"I'm so tired." Rachel said as she turned to him.

He looked into her eyes and saw that she seemed to have aged, and then she leaned forward, and he caught her. Before he could say anything else to her, she was asleep in his arms. He carefully lifted her up, noticing that she did not seem to weigh anything, and took her to the bed. He pulled the covers over her still body and brushed the hair out of her face.

She looked so peaceful, and he just wanted to crawl into bed with her, but he did not. Instead, he turned off the light, and returned to his own room.

* * *

The next day, the Buckets were estatic that Rachel had returned safely, but they noticed a change in her. Mother Bucket was musing over this change with Willy after lunch. 

"She's acting the same way she did when she last visited us, you know, fifteen years ago. It was strange then, and it's strange now. It's like she's missing something, or... I don't know what. But it worries me." Mother Bucket said to Willy.

"She was like this before?"

"Yes, apparently it was shortly before her parents died. I don't know what's wrong with her, but I do wish that she would stop leaving us. She should stay with family, even if we aren't truly family. We're all she knows." Mother Bucket said, not knowing that Willy was told of Rachel's adoption.

Willy left the cottage, thinking of Rachel's situation. He saw her sitting by herself, near the chocolate river, so he walked over and joined her.

"How are you doing?" Willy asked, sitting down.

"Alright, it's kind of you to ask." Rachel said, giving him a genuine smile, but her eyes still looked strained.

"Mother Bucket just told me that you were like this fifteen years ago, right before your parents died." Willy stated.

"I don't remember. But I guess it's possible." Rachel answered.

They sat in silence then, Willy enjoying Rachel's company. He wished that he could tell her how he felt, but he knew that he should wait until her condition was better. But for now, he was very happy sitting in silence with her. And he enjoyed her silent presence for the rest of the week, knowing that he would tell her of his love soon. But that time came too quickly for him.

**AN: Hope you enjoyed. Unfortunately, posts might not be as frequent as usual. This story was in dire need of a second part (which is not yet written). I will try to be as faithful as ever, but you can't rush a good story. Oh, and don't forget to review. Thanks again for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own only Rachel White. All other characters are the property of some other lucky person.**

**AN: I had this all ready to post yesterday, but i decided to wait until now to post it. I originally intended for this to be the last chapter of this story, but then I reconsidered it. I feel that someone might beat me to death with Willy's cane if I left you hanging. So rest assure, there is a Part 2 to this story. Unfortunately, it is not written yet. But that's what the weekend is for, right? Well, anyway, enjoy.**

A week after Rachel's return, there was a knock on Willy's bedroom door. He answered his door, shocked to hear a knock at this hour of the night. But when he opened it, he saw Rachel standing there, with her worn out bag slung on her shoulder.

"Rachel, what are you doing here?" Willy asked.

"I have to go." She stated, bluntly.

"When do you think you'll be back this time?" Willy asked, not expecting it to be another long trip.

"I won't be back." Rachel answered, looking at the ground.

"What? Rachel, I... Come in. We need to talk." Willy said, opening the door for her to come in.

She stepped into his room, and he shut the door behind them. He motioned for her to sit as he picked up a teapot from a table. Rachel sat down on his bed and looked around. Once again, this room looked as if you could eat everything in it. His bed looked as if it were made of chocolate, but it was soft and comfortable. He poured her a cup of what she knew to be hot chocolate and handed it to her.

"Why are you leaving me?" Willy asked, sitting on the bed next to her with his own cup.

"Leaving you?" Rachel asked, taking a sip of her chocolate. It was delicious and warmed her completely.

"I realized this week that I love you." Willy said, awkwardly.

"What? You can't. You've only know me for a short time, and you don't actually know me at all." Rachel said, backing away from him.

"But I love everything about you, especially your beautiful smile." Willy responded.

"Willy, you don't know what you're saying. Maybe in your own way, you do love me, but it's not true love. In this world, true love is a rarity." Rachel tried to explain.

"I know what love is, and I feel it every time I see you. I don't want you to leave me now."

"You don't understand. If I stay here any longer, I'll go crazy. It's in my blood, I have to keep moving." Rachel said, as Willy put his hand on top of hers. Once again he did not flinch.

"Then I'll go with you."

"That's impossible, Charlie needs you here."

"I'll teach him faster, and then we can both go on adventures together."

"Did you know that you don't always have a fear of touching people?" Rachel asked him. Willy looked down at his hand and realized that he was touching her.

"I guess I don't."

"This isn't the first time that you've touched someone without thinking. You do it all the time around the Buckets. It's only when you think about it. That's when you have a problem."

"If I don't really have a problem with touching people, then maybe, you don't have to leave. Maybe you don't really have a problem staying in one place for more than a couple days. And maybe, if we don't have these problems...then maybe...I really am in love." Willy said and then leaned over to Rachel and kissed her.

She knew that she shouldn't let him, but she could not help herself. She liked the touch of his lips upon hers. She longed for him, just as he longed for her. But she knew the sad truth, even if this was the beginnings of love, it would never work, for she knew what her circumstances were.

But for now, Rachel let Willy take the cup of hot chocolate from her and then embrace her. She fell back onto the bed and was engulfed in the warmth of the sheets. Willy was on top of her, kissing every inch of her body. She did want this. Rachel threw back her head and let out a cry of pleasure. And a thought came to her mind, that this was just as good as the first bite of a delicious chocolate bar.

* * *

When Rachel woke up the next morning, she looked over at Willy, and saw that he was sleeping peacefully. She smiled at the sight, but her heart ached at the same time. What she shared with Willy was wonderful, but the wind was calling her again. It was in her blood, and she knew what she had to do.

* * *

Willy woke up with a smile on his face. At first, he did not remember what had happened, but then it all came back to him. He rolled over to look at Rachel, and his smile faltered as he realized that she was gone. 

"She must have gotten up earlier and now she's with the Buckets." Willy said out loud to no one.

He climbed out of bed and changed. He was humming a nonsensical tune as he grabbed his red velvet coat and put it on. When he picked up his top hat, his humming stopped. Underneath his hat was a folded piece of paper with his name on it. A dreadful feeling came over him as he picked it up. He opened it with a heavy heart and read:

Dearest Willy,

It's in my blood, and I can't help that. You might have a fear of touching people, but for the most part, that is in your mind, just like my fear of heights. But this is a part of me. I do love you, and it is killing me to leave, but I must. Maybe someday I can grow away from this terrible compulsion, and I'll find a true home. But for now, I must carry out this need. I write this as I look at your sleeping form. You look so childlike and innocent, but I know for a fact that you have the mind of an intelligent adult. So I leave you with these few words. Take them as you will, but this is what I am made of.

The soul is usually thought to be feminine. All qualities that are thought of as soulful are supposed to come more naturally to women. This includes having a dreaminess or artistic sensibility. Half seen, half present, almost gone or ghostly in appearance, with only the vaguest connections to reality, the soul appears to us as lost. The hero with his more masculine traits, must go in search of her. There is also another story of the soul, in which she is planted firmly on the earth. She is visible anywhere and everywhere. And she is not faint of heart, nor does she doubt her purpose. It is she who goes bravely in search of desire.

Please try to understand this. And if you really love me, then be my hero and save me.

With all my love,

Rachel

Willy fell to his knees and let out a cry. He crumpled the letter in his hand as he looked out the window.

"I'll save you, Rachel." Willy whispered.

**AN: Sorry that it had to stop there. I just wanted to point out that in Rachel's letter, I paraphrased an idea from the writer Susan Griffin, from her narative, "Our Secret." Technically, I didn't use her words, but I still have to give credit were it is due. I'd like to hear what you all thought about the end of Part 1, so please review. And once again, thanks for sticking by with me so far.**


	8. Part II Lost, Yet Found

**Disclaimer: I only own Rachel White. All the good characters are the property of some other lucky person.**

**AN: This is really short, but I felt that I had to post something. Things are going to start happening faster, but there's so much more to the story. But anyway, here is Chapter 1 of Part 2, which I am calling "Lost, Yet Found."**

**Part II - Lost, Yet Found**

Chapter 1

It was almost two months since the night that Rachel left. To Willy, the days seemed to be endless as he waited for her return. Charlie had been extremely upset when he heard that she left, but he seemed to be coping with it quickly. Willy on the other hand, did not cope as well.

The factory prospered as usual, but Willy did not care as much. It was not very noticeable, on the contrary, Willy seemed to be as he always was. He was happy and bubbly in front of the Buckets. But at night, when he was in his room, alone, he would look out the window. He was searching for Rachel. His heart ached every time he thought about her.

Eventually, the Bucket's forgot that she had ever visited them. Willy did not.

* * *

December and January passed by without conflict. But when February arrived, Willy was starting to have trouble sleeping. Rachel was still on his mind, but he did not voice his concerns. 

One day in that month, an Oompa Loompa brought Charlie and Willy their mail as they stood in the Chocolate room, discussing a candy shrubbery. Charlie saw that there was a postcard addressed to both him and Willy. Looking down at the sharp printing and he noticed that it was signed by Rachel.

"Willy, Rachel sent us a postcard." Charlie said, eagerly.

A lump formed in Willy's throat as the thought of her jumped into his mind again. He stood there, looking at Charlie, wanting him to read it quickly. All concerns about the shrub deserted him.

"Come on, Charlie. Read it." Willy said, a little to forcefully.

Charlie looked up at Willy, and noticed for the first time that he acted differently when Rachel was mentioned. Dismissing this fact quickly, Charlie began to read the postcard out loud.

"Dear Charlie and Willy,

I've been through most of Europe, and while it is peaceful and beautiful, I felt lost. I have returned to America. It pains me to think about how far I am from you both, but this is the only place that I really know. I don't know where I'll end up next, but I'll try to write to you when I get there.

Love,

Rachel"

Charlie finished and looked at the other side of the postcard. On the front was a picture of a bell with a crack in it. Willy walked over to Charlie to look at it too.

"What is it?" Willy asked.

"The caption says it's the Liberty Bell. What's that?" Charlie asked, not knowing much about American history.

Willy took the postcard out of Charlie's hands and looked at it closer. Under the bell was a caption that read, "Liberty Bell – Philadelphia, PA."

"She's in Philadelphia again." Willy whispered to himself.

"What did you say, Willy?"

"I said she's in Philadelphia. I have to go find her." He said, before thinking.

"Why would you want to go find her? It would be impossible."

"Not if I left now. Maybe she'll still be there when I arrive." Willy said, making hurried plans.

"But why, Willy? I want to find her as much as you, but I'm not going to."

Willy looked at him and realized that Charlie did not understand why he had to do this. He motioned for Charlie to sit down on the eatable grass and followed suit.

"Charlie, it's really hard for me to tell you this, but I...I love Rachel. I can't stand her being gone any longer. I want her to come back here and live with us." Willy said, looking over to the chocolate waterfall.

"You love her?"

"Yes, I do. And I'm going to find her." Willy stated.

Charlie looked down at his feet, trying to comprehend what he had just heard. It seemed strange that Willy would ever fall in love, let alone, in love with his cousin. He should be happy, but somehow it troubled him.

"I guess I could manage the factory without you here, but I still think it's not going to work." Charlie said in a low voice.

"Where's you faith, Charlie? Can't you believe? I'm going to find her, not matter how long it takes me."

"Then I wish you luck." Charlie said, and then leaned over to Willy and hugged him.Willy did not flinch.

**AN: Short, yes. But now you have something to chew over until the next post. Hope you enjoyed this sudden turn. Don't worry though, it's worth the wait. Don't forget to review. Thanks!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own only Rachel White. All other characters are the property of someone else.**

**AN: Sorry this took so long. I had a busy weekend and a bad internet connection. But since I'm now sick, I have time for editing. So here's the next installment. Enjoy.**

Willy's trip was planned quickly. He told the Bucket's of his intentions, and with many objections, left for the airport after packing. He wanted to take the glass elevator, but he knew that Rachel was afraid of it. Instead, he had an Oompa Loompa from Inhuman Resources book him on the earliest flight to Philadelphia. He was lucky enough to get one for that evening.

His ordeals through the airport, while very interesting, have no bearing on this story. For when he took his first step on American soil, his journey officially began, and anything that happened before that was quickly forgotten.

* * *

As Willy walked down the streets of Philadelphia, he noticed right away, that he did not like this place. He felt uncomfortable as people stared at him. The atmosphere was dirty and dismal. No one greeted him with a smile. 

"Why would Rachel ever want to live here?" Willy asked himself.

At one point, a homeless man came up to Willy and asked for spare change. Having no American currency on him, he backed away, trying not to get to close to the man. The derelict saw Willy's reaction and cursed him before moving to the next passing person.

Shaking his head, Willy continued his journey through the city. Thinking about where he was, the thought struck him that he had no place to stay. He did not fully think out his plans. He shrugged, knowing that he would figure something out.

It was around noon when Willy started to feel hungry. He had been walking none stop since he arrived that morning. Tired, he looked around the park that he had just walked into. Signs around announced that this was Rittenhouse Square. He sat down on a bench and looked around. There were so many places for him to stop and eat, but he did not feel up to it.

He sighed and looked around at the passing people. No one was friendly here. He thought that maybe it was a mistake for him to have come. Philadelphia was so big, and trying to find one person seemed impossible. Rachel was lost to him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he some something familiar. Standing up quickly, he scanned the crowd to make sure that his eyes were right. Yes, he did see it! It was Rachel's worn out backpack!

All exhaustion fled Willy as he ran after the person with the worn out backpack. He pushed past people, not realizing that he was touching them. The only thought on his mind was to find Rachel. Willy caught up with her in an alleyway between two tall buildings. He touched her shoulder, turning her around. And that was when he saw that it wasn't her.

"Piss off, jackass!" said the girl before she continued on her way.

Willy stood there for awhile, thinking that he had gone crazy. He could have sworn that it was Rachel. And anyway, the girl shouldn't have been that rude to him. As Willy decided that he should go back to the factory, he did not hear that someone had walked up behind him.

"You going to a Halloween party or something?" said a sarcastic voice from behind him.

Willy turned and saw a young man in a leather jacket coming towards him. He did not know at time that he was in danger, but he found out soon.

"Maybe you have some change to spare?" Continued the man, pulling something out from his jacket pocket.

"Actually, I'm not American, so I don't have any of your money." Willy said, trying to be polite.

"Bullshit. I bet you have loads of money, and I think you should share." the man said, showing a switchblade to Willy.

Willy backed up into the wall, dropping his cane, and looked at the man with surprise. Was everyone outside his factory this violent? No, Rachel wasn't. And as a smile formed on his face from thinking of Rachel, the man's attention was drawn away. Willy heard a voice beside him, but was to afraid to look.

"Leave him alone, you bastard!" yelled a voice, and then the person struck out and punched the delinquent in the face.

"Bitch, you'll pay for that!" the delinquent yelled, pinning the woman against the wall.

Willy finally chanced looking at the owner of the familiar voice. It was Rachel. His heart stopped as he looked at her beautiful face. She was struggling against the man, so Willy reached for his cane and readied himself to hit the him. But Rachel beat him to the chase by kneeing the man in the groin.

As the delinquent slumped to the ground, she turned to Willy with a broad smile on her face.

"I hope you can run fast. Follow me." Rachel yelled as she started down the alley.

Willy followed her away from the man and back into the open public. They ran down a block before Rachel turned to see if they were being followed. When she was sure that the man was not behind them, she slowed to a walking pace. Willy caught up with her, panting.

"Why do I always end up out of breath when I see you?" he asked.

"I don't know, maybe it's because you love me. Come on, down here." Rachel said, proceeding down a set of steps that led to the subway.

"Aren't you even going to say hello?" Willy asked, disappointed.

"I think the time for 'hellos' has already past.We should just keep moving." Rachel said, not turning to talk to him.

He followed her down into the subway, hesitate to go, but unable to protest. The subway was worse than the city. It felt as if you had just walking into the depths of hell. It was hot, and there was a strange smell in the air. Rachel stepped up to a turn-style and looked around. Seeing no one watching, she jiggled it in a certain way, and then she was able to go through without paying. Willy stepped up to it next and she helped him do it too.

"I could have paid for us." Willy said, feeling bad for what they had just done.

"I thought you didn't have American money, and I surely don't have any, so we had to do it. You didn't want to have to walk through the ghetto, did you?" Rachel said as the stood to wait for the sub.

"What's a ghetto?" Willy asked.

"It's worse than what you just saw. Anyway, how did you find me?" Rachel asked, finally looking at him.

"You sent us a postcard." Willy started.

"Yeah, about a week ago. I just got off the plane and I saw it on the ground. I don't know why, but I just felt like I had to write you. But how did you find me here?"

"The postcard had the Liberty Bell on it, and it said it was from Philadelphia. I got a ticket to come over here the same day."

"You just got here? That was a very foolish thing to do. I might have left already, and it's a big city. You had no chance in finding me." Rachel scolded.

"But I did."

"No you didn't. I found you." Rachel said, smiling.

Willy could not take it anymore. Seeing her smile like that made him want to kiss her. And he did. He took Rachel into his arms and kissed her for such a long time that Rachel had to pull away when the sub came.

Both of them, now smiling, then boarded the sub with everyone else. Willy looked around in disgust. He liked the subway even less now.

"How can you live here?"

"I get by. Don't worry, I've been here a week, I should be moving soon." Rachel said flatly.

Willy sat in silence next to Rachel, waiting for when she would make a move to get off. In his mind, he had so many questions for her, but he could not ask them now. When they reached their stop, Rachel stood up and led Willy back up to the street.

"Where are we?" Willy asked, looking around.

"We're on a college campus. I've been living here for two days now. Come on." Rachel said, leading the way again.

"How are you living here?" Willy asked.

"I found someone who's roommate doesn't live in the dorm anymore. Through some negotiation, I got her to agree to let me stay there. I'm also getting paid to write her term paper." Rachel said.

"Term paper? How can you do that?"

"I'm not that dumb. All I need is the right books, and I can do anything. Now the only problem is getting you inside the dorm. They have tight security here. It's easy for me to get by, but you kinda stand out."

"What do you mean by that?" Willy asked, standing there in his velvet coat with purple gloves and silk top hat, holding a cane.

Rachel stopped and turned to him, smiling.

"Follow me, we'll go in the back way." Rachel said, leading him to the back of the building.

She did another quick check, and walked over to a door that had no doorknob. Willy looked up and saw a security camera looking down at them.

"Can't they see us?"

"No, that camera's been broken for about a month now." Rachel replied as she leaned against the door. After exerting some force, she stepped back as the door bounced back in it's frame, just enough for her to grab hold of it. Then she turned to Willy, smiling, and opened the door for him.

"How do you know about all this?" Willy asked.

"You have to know how to ask the right questions to the right people. It's actually very simple to do. I've been doing it all my life." Rachel said, ushering Willy in.

Willy stood in the stairwell where the door led and looked at Rachel. She was different from what he remembered. It was almost as if he was seeing her for the first time. But that only made him love her more. When she shut the door behind them, she gave him another radiant smile. Willy knew then that he had made the right decision.

**AN: Okay, that's it for now. I just want to make it clear that I don't know anything about the Philadelphia airport. I do know a bit about Philly, but since it's not really important to the story, I didn't write it like reality. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed this and don't forget to review.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I only own the character Rachel White. All other characters are the property of some other lucky person.**

**AN: Sorry this took so long. Midterms and sicknesses take up much time, and in all honesty, I forgot that I never finished this. I did my best to fit the writing of the ending into my schedule and it looks like this can be finished by Thanksgiving. Anyway, sorry for the delay, and I hope you enjoy the next installment of this ongoing drama.**

They walked up a flight of stairs to the fourth floor. Once there, Rachel walked down to room 407. She knocked and then pushed open the door.

"Open door policy. Isn't it great?" Rachel asked. Seeing that Willy did not understand, she let it go.

Inside the room was a man sitting at the one desk. Willy looked around at the drab room, and once again, asked himself why anyone would want to live here. Rachel walked over to the young man and started talking to him.

"Hey Jack. How's it going?" Rachel asked the man.

Willy noticed that Rachel sounded different. When she had visited the factory, she had an almost British accent. Now her tone was harsh and American. She was also dressed different. He remembered her wearing jeans and a t-shirt before, but now she wore it differently. She reminded him of all the other girls he had just seen on the campus.

"Things are great, Rachel. Course, I'm out of ink, so I had to use Andrea's printer. But hey, what are girlfriends for? So, who's the guy?" Jack asked, as he picked up the papers that he just printed out.

"This is Bill. He's a good friend of mine." Rachel said, turning to smile at Willy.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Bill." Jack said, standing, and reaching to shake his hand. When Willy backed away with a look of disgust, Jack looked at Rachel for an answer.

"Germophobic. Doesn't like to be touched, hence the gloves." Rachel explained, pointing to Willy's purple gloves.

"Oh, hey, whatever. Anyway, you two want to go to dinner later with me and Andrea?" Jack asked.

"Sure. If we're up to it." Rachel said.

Jack then said good bye and left Willy and Rachel in the room alone. Rachel took off her backpack and set it on the desk. Then, turning to Willy, she smiled.

"Why did you call me Bill?" Willy asked.

"Because Willy is sort of an unusual name for a grown man. Anyway, Bill's just another nickname for William, just like Willy." Rachel explained.

"I know, but my name's not William."

"It's not?" Rachel asked.

"No, my real name _is_ Willy. It's not short for anything."

"'Kay." Rachel said, a little confused. She then looked up into Willy's violet eyes and said, "I missed you."

"I missed you too. That's why I had to come get you." Willy said, stepping towards her.

"Willy, this isn't going to work..." Rachel started, but was cut off when Willy kissed her.

Rachel took a step back and fell onto the bed. Willy gently pushed her down, and then, breaking away from their kiss, he looked down at her.

"You're so beautiful." Willy said, as she smiled back at him.

Rachel put her arms around his neck to pull him down, closer to her.

"I love you, Willy." Rachel whispered in his ear.

Her voice made him shudder. Willy did not realize how much he actually missed her. Rachel unbuttoned his vest and shirt, sliding them off. Willy in turn slid her shirt up and over her head. He kissed her neck and slowly made his way down to her navel.

Rachel gently touched his face and brought it towards her. She kissed him again, but this time, he could feel her tongue slid into his mouth. It shocked him, but he liked it. Rachel wrapped her one leg around him, and Willy caressed her thigh.

There was no thought in what they did. Passion took over as they laid in each other's arms. Willy never wanted to let her go.

Unfortunately, a loud noise woke them from their trance. Lights were flashing, and Willy could hear noise outside the room.

"What is it?" Willy asked.

"Damn it! Fire alarm." Rachel said, rolling out of the bed.

She grabbed her shirt and pulled it on. Willy also found he shirt and followed her out the door. He ran his fingers through his hair as he looked back at the bed. Inside, Willy did not understand what had come over him. But as he looked to Rachel, he knew that she had felt it too.

* * *

Outside, Rachel led Willy away from the building and towards a brick wall. When they reached the wall, Rachel jumped up onto it and sat, facing the dorms. 

"That's a horrible sound." Willy said, joining her on the wall.

"Yeah, it is. Someone probably just burnt some popcorn though. There's nothing to worry about." Rachel reassured.

"Rachel?"

"Yeah, Willy?" Rachel said, turning to him.

"I was just thinking, well, it came to mind earlier...that...you're different." Willy tried to explain.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked with a laugh.

"You look different, and act different, and even sound different."

"Sound different?"

"Yes, when you visited my factory, you talked like the Buckets." Willy said.

Rachel understood what he now meant. She took it for granted that she changed so much, but she did not know quite how to explain it to Willy. She folded her legs under her and sat facing him. Rachel knew that she had to explain this to Willy carefully.

"Willy, I'm not British, I'm American. You know that." Rachel started.

"Yes, I know that. But there is so much more that changed."

"I know. I do this all the time. It's how I move from place to place. If you look around, you'll see that I look like every other girl here. Sometimes it's better not to be noticed. All you have to do is change what you wear, the dialect you use, and some of your actions, and you can go anywhere and be considered to be one of them."

"Why would you want to be one of them?"

"Because being an outsider is very hard. You should know that. And anyway, in a month or two, everyone that I met here will have forgotten I existed. Sometimes that is better." Rachel said, unable to look at him any longer.

"If you went back to the factory with me, you'd never be an outsider again."

"It's not that easy." Rachel said sharply, giving him a reproachful look.

This look stopped Willy from saying anything more. He was shocked, but he could see that Rachel regretted having said what she did.

"I'm sorry. Sometimes it's even hard for me to understand." Rachel apologized.

"I started it. But I love you still. Even if you talk like a regular American, and you look like a college girl, I still love you." Willy said, putting his arm around her.

"You're getting better about touching people, aren't you?"

"Not really, just people I care about." Willy said, inhaling her scent.

"There has to be a reason for you fear." Rachel said, pulling away.

"I don't know of one, off hand. But I might figure it out eventually." Willy answered.

"I can see that you have more questions on your mind." Rachel said, letting Willy put his arm back around her.

"How old _are _you?" Willy asked.

"What? That's not a very nice question to ask a lady." Rachel said, caught off guard.

"I'm sorry...I didn't..." Willy stuttered.

"I'm joking. I'm gonna be 29 in April."

"You don't look like it." Willy said.

"That's really nice of you to say, but I feel ancient. All this moving really does make you tired."

"Then come back with me." Willy pleaded again.

"I wish it was that simple. Willy, please understand. My journey is not yet over. They say that the first step is the start of any journey, but I have not yet come to my last step. There has to be a reason behind my need to move, just like there's a reason behind why you're afraid to touch. Maybe all I need is to find that reason. There is so much that I don't know about my past that would help me with this." Rachel said.

"Then I will help you find what you need to. And after we find that together, we will go back to my factory. And we'll be happy." Willy stated.

"Willy..." Rachel started, but was cut off.

"No, don't say anything. I made up my mind. Let's call this the first steps of our journey together. I can not let you do this by yourself. I love you too much to see you struggle alone." Willy said, and then leaned forward, kissing Rachel's forehead.

"Willy..." Rachel started again, as her voice trembled with approaching tears, but was once again cut off. This time by the voice of a girl.

"Hey, Rachel! There you are." Said a college girl, walking towards them.

"Oh, hi, Andrea." Rachel said as she successfully held back her tears.

"Jack told me about your friend coming to dinner with us." Andrea said as she looked at Willy with a sense of wonder.

"Yeah, this is Will. He's a very good friend of mine." Rachel said, turning to smile at Willy.

"Is he into punk or something? Or like Emo?" Andrea asked.

"Yes, I am." Willy said, shocking Rachel.

"Hey, whatever. So why don't we start over to J&H for dinner?" Andrea asked. Rachel agreed and followed her with Willy.

"Rachel." Willy whispered behind Andrea's back.

"What is it?" Asked Rachel, copying his tone.

"What is punk and Emo?" Willy asked. Rachel looked him in the eye before bursting out in laughter.

"Nevermind, Willy." Rachel said, throwing her arms around him. This was one of the reasons why she loved him so.

**AN: Thanks for reading. I'm estimating three or four more posts, and this will be done. I hope you have enjoyed the story so far, and please, don't forget to review. Thanks for sticking with me for so long!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own only Rachel White, all other characters are owner by someone else.**

**AN: Another post up. I hope you enjoy this next installment.**

Rachel and Willy sneaked into the cafeteria through a back door, while Andrea and Jack showed their ids at the front. Willy looked around the noisy room at all the college students, and shook his head. He never believed that he would be in such a crowded place, and feel comfortable. The only reason he could stand it was because Rachel was at his side.

Rachel's name was called by several people as they both made their way towards the food. So many people seemed to know her that Willy could not help ask her why.

"Rachel, how do so many people know you?" he asked.

"I don't know. I guess there's just something about me, huh?" Rachel said as they got in line.

"But I thought that you said that they would forget you when you leave. They seem to remember you pretty good now." Willy countered.

"Yeah, that's now. These kids are still young. They'll forget me easily since they see new things everyday. I'm just a passing fad." Rachel said as she grabbed a tray and handed it to Willy.

"So what's good here?" Willy asked.

"Nothing." Rachel said with a laugh. "Just stay away from the casserole. I suggest french fries and lasanga."

"What?" Willy asked as she got what she just said. He took her word, and got it too.

After getting drinks, Willy followed Rachel over to the table that Andrea and Jack were already sitting at. He sat down next to Rachel and smiled at the other two.

"So, Bill, how do you like it here?" Jack asked.

"Bill? I thought Rachel said his name was Will." Andrea said before Willy could answer.

"I probably said Bill by accident. He prefers Will, or even Willy." Rachel covered.

"Oh, whatever. So Willy, how do you like it here?" Jack asked again.

"It's okay, I guess. It's not as nice as my home, though." Willy said, trying to be nice.

"Hey, don't sweat. I hate it here too. College isn't supposed to feel that much like home. It's just a place to go to school and learn. Oh, and sometimes have fun." Andrea said.

"Fun?" Willy asked with some excitement, as the child within him surfaced.

"Yeah, we've had some fun times. Just last night, me and Rachel were watching movies with Jack. We had a great time." Andrea said with a laugh.

"Oh, remember, 'where's the pumpkin?' That was great!" Jack laughed.

Willy looked at him with puzzlement. When Jack saw the look, he realized that he had forgotten that Willy couldn't possibly understand what he was talking about.

"Andrea, tell him about the pumpkin." Jack said.

"Okay. Well, we were all watching these movies cause Jack got kicked out of his room. His roommate wanted to have a 'little fun' with his girlfriend, so Jack had to stay the night with us. Anyway, back during Halloween, he got this plastic pumpkin that little kids use for trick or treating and every so often he fills is with candy. For some reason, he had the munchies for chocolate but Jack wouldn't go over to his room to get it. So after listening to him complain for about ten minutes, Rachel volunteered to get it." Andrea said.

"She actually went over to my room, knocked on the door, and used the key to get in. She told us that my roommate and his girl were in the bed under the covers, shocked that she came in. But Rachel didn't care, she just looked for the pumpkin. I didn't even tell her where it was so she actually asked them 'where's the pumpkin?' Then she turned on the light, found it, and left." Jack finished while laughing.

Willy looked at Rachel and tried to understand why this was so funny. Rachel just looked back at him with a forced smile on her face.

"I don't get it." Willy admitted.

"What is there to get? Rachel is like the hero of the floor, she didn't even care what was going on in my room. But I guess you had to be there." Jack said, shoveling food into his mouth.

"So, how do you know Rachel?" Andrea asked.

"I mentor her cousin." Willy replied, not knowing how much Rachel wanted her to know.

"Really? Where are you from?"

"England." Willy stated, trying to swallow some of his food. Rachel was right about one thing, the food _was _awful.

"Wow, why'd you come here?" Jack asked.

"Because Rachel needed some company." Willy replied, looking over at Rachel. She smiled back at him.

"How sweet. Well, you two will have all the privacy you need tonight. I'm staying in Jack's room for an all nighter. We have a big test tomorrow." Andrea told them.

"Yeah, just try to keep the noise to a minimum. Quiet time starts at ten during the week." Jack added.

"What do you mean?" Willy asked, innocently.

"You know. Hint, hint. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge." Andrea said with a laugh.

* * *

After they ate, the four of them all parted ways. Willy followed Rachel back through the cafe and into the dorm. On their way to the fourth floor, Willy could not help but to ask what was on his mind. 

"Rachel? Why was that story about the pumpkin so funny?"

"I have no idea. Sometimes it feels like these college kids can find humor in anything. That's the only way I don't fit in with them, but I can still pretend. I'm sorry you had to go through this. It must be really hard for you to be so far away from your factory." Rachel said.

"It's worth it if I can be with you." Willy said.

* * *

It was close to midnight, but Rachel was still working. Willy was concerned as he sat on Rachel's bed, looking at her type. Rachel had told him that she had to finish Andrea's paper before she went to bed. But as she sat on Andrea's bed, staring at the laptop, Rachel looked strained. 

"Why do you do this?" Willy asked, still seeing her beauty.

"What, you mean do these kid's homework? I'm making good money." Rachel said, looking briefly up at Willy.

"I'm rich. You don't have to work ever again."

"I know you're rich, but this is my life style. I live from job to job, from town to town. You probably understand my reasons just as much as I do. If I get paid fifty dollars for each essay I write, I'm happy. These kid's don't realize that it would be better to do their work themselves." Rachel said, as she typed a few last words.

She stood up and stretched as the printer started to shot out copies. Rachel, satisfied that she was done, shut up the laptop and looked at Willy with a smile.

"Done. Now I can sleep." She said, as she walked over and sat down on the bed beside him.

"Good, you look tired."

"Thanks." Rachel said with a laugh.

"But you're still look beautiful." Willy said, as Rachel's eyebrows furrowed.

"Willy, I never noticed. You're so pale. It's like you've never seen the sun."

"I don't get out much." Willy replied, embarrassed that she brought the subject up.

"But you came looking for me." Rachel said as she stroked his face lightly.

Willy looked into her blue eyes as she looked into his violet ones. Rachel felt horrible for making him want to come after her. Willy, on the other hand, was happy that he decided to come. He put his arm around her and kissed her. As they laid down together, Willy heard Rachel whisper in his ear.

"My hero."

**AN: I know this might seem like a bit of fluff, but it's needed to fill in the gaps. Good news though, there will be exactly four more posts, and this story is done. They way my schedule looks, I can probably get one up a week, sooner if I'm lucky. But stick with this, because the plot thickens in the next two posts. Hope you enjoyed, and please review. It makes me happy.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I own Rachel White. Wonka is someone elses.**

**AN: Sorry this took so long. Sometimes it's just hard to pick up something that you've left for so long. I've been working on too much serious stuff, and decided that it was due time to finish this. The last posts are up, and this is done. So thanks for staying with me so long.**

It was late in the afternoon when Willy woke up to see that Rachel was not in his arms like he remembered. Looking around the room, he saw her sitting on Andrea's bed, looking at a pad of paper.

"Are you doing more school work?" Willy asked.

"No, I was just looking at this. You woke me up last night talking." Rachel said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realized that I talked in my sleep."

"It's not that. The things you were saying sounded important, so I wrote them down. I was just reading it over, and it looks like a recipe or something." Rachel explained.

"Let me see." Willy said, interested.

Rachel stood up and handed him the paper, and as he read what she had wrote, his eyes lit up.

"This is amazing. It could really work!" Willy exclaimed.

"What is it?" Sitting down next to him.

"This would make a great candy, I don't know why I never thought of it before." Willy continued, not hearing her. He then looked up and said, "I have to talk to Charlie."

"What, now?" Rachel asked, leaning closer, trying to see what he did.

"Of course now. Charlie needs to get working on this as soon as possible!" Willy said, jumping up from the bed.

"Fine, there's a phone in the lobby. We'll make a collect call." Rachel said, grabbing her backpack.

"A what?" Willy asked, but she did not answer. He followed her out of the room and down the stairs to the lobby. She placed a collect call for him, and then went looking for breakfast as he talked to Charlie.

"Willy, when are you coming back?" Charlie asked eagerly. "We miss you, and the Oompa Loompas aren't happy."

"Give us time, Charlie. I think I might be able to talk her into coming back soon. But you have to work on this candy for the time being. The factory will be okay, and soon I'll be back." Willy reassured. When he hung up the phone, there was the pain of guilt in his heart. He had left the one thing he truly loved in order to go on a fruitless journey.

"You done already?" Rachel asked from behind him. He turned to see that she was holding a bagel and an apple out to him, and he realized that by leaving one thing that he loved, he had found another. Willy smiled and accepted the offered food. He was famished and ate as quickly as possible.

"So what are we going to do today?" Willy asked after he threw away the apple core.

"It's time to leave." Rachel said, looking around the lobby with distrust.

"Already?" Willy asked. She said yes, and they started their journey again.

They had been walking for several hours when Willy needed to stop. He was tired and getting hungry again. Rachel didn't seem to show any sign of being tired, but she stopped on his behalf.

"Do you know where we're going?" Willy asked as he sat down on a bench.

"No, I don't." Rachel admitted, joining him.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" Willy asked abruptly.

"What?" Rachel said, shocked by what he had said. She quickly countered his question with another. "Why don't you like to touch people?"

Willy sat and thought about it for a while before answering. "I don't touch people because I never wanted to get close to them. I've been hurt so many times before that I didn't want it to happen again. My father was never a 'touching' person, but when he left me, I felt like a part of me went missing."

"I know how you feel." Rachel said, surprised that he had answered her.

"Do you?"

"Of course. You missed out on a large part of your life with your father, and I've missed out on time with my real family. I mean, what do you think I'm really searching for. I want to find my family. It's what I'm missing." Rachel admitted. She seemed to lose her train of thought, but quickly regained herself. Standing up suddenly, she said it a forced cheery voice, "We should keep moving."

A couple hours later, Willy started to recognize where they were heading. He didn't know if Rachel had headed that way on purpose or not, but he had to ask. "Did you know that we are heading towards the airport?"

"Really, I didn't know that." Rachel said in a far away voice. It was obvious that she was officially in 'wanderer mode'. The look on her face showed that she was fully attentive, but she still didn't seem completely there. Willy continued to follow her without objection. "Maybe we should try to take a plane somewhere."

"Why would we want to do that?" asked Willy, a little too quickly. He did not like the last experience that he had had on an airplane, and was not eager to do it all again.

"There's nothing here for us anymore. It's time to get out of here. There is somewhere else we should be going now, I just don't know where yet." Rachel said, believing in her logic.

They continued towards the airport, but Willy had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He did not like how she did not make decisions on her own. The thought of her doing this constantly on her own scared him.

"I'm never going to let you do this on your own again." Willy stated, but Rachel did not hear him.

"You stay here, I'm going to get us tickets." Rachel said, walking away from him.

"No you don't." He started, but was not able to finish. Rachel departed him, and he stood uncomfortably by himself. Willy was starting to suspect that she had abandoned him when he spotted her walking towards him. He was amazed to see that she had tickets in her hand. "How in the world did you get those?"

"Don't ask. It's just one of my 'gifts'." Rachel said, handing him one.

"So where are we going?"

"I don't know, I wasn't paying attention to that." Rachel said, sincerely. She looked down at the tickets and could not hold back her laughter.

"What's so funny?" Willy asked.

"We're going to California. My home." Rachel stated.

* * *

The plane ride seemed to take forever, but for Willy, it was a better experience with Rachel. After looking at their tickets, Rachel had seemed distant. She did not protest to going back home, it just that she wasn't happy with the circumstances. 

Once in California, Rachel led him again. Willy knew that it had been years since she had stepped foot in this state, but she seemed to remember every inch of it. And she also seemed to know where she wanted to go.

In a suburban area, she slowly her steady walking pace, and looking at each house with fascination. Willy noticed this instantly, and had to question her.

"Is this your old neighborhood?" Willy asked tentively.

"Yes." Rachel said. "I never thought I'd come back."

"So, where's your house?"

"It was never really mine. But it's down the block, just over there..." Rachel said, pointing to an empty lot, and trailing off. She had stopped in her tracks, and now stood staring at the lot. "My god, what happened?"

Willy could not reply, for Rachel took off quickly and ran across the street. He ran after her, and only caught up when she stopped in front of the lot. There were no words for the thoughts that came to her mind. Only silence for what had once been her home.

"What happened?" Rachel asked again, not expecting an answer.

"Fire, that's what." Replied a woman's voice from the neighboring yard. Rachel turned her attention to that woman, her look pleading for more explanation. Tears had formed in her eyes, but she made no effort to hide them. The woman just looked at her, and asked, "Why do you want to know."

"Because I lived her." Rachel said, tears streaming down her face. "My name's Rachel White, and I was looking for...I don't know. Honestly, I don't."

"Rachel? Is that really you?" Asked the woman, stepping closer to her. And before Rachel replied, the woman answered herself. "Lord, it is you!"

Rachel looked at the woman, and slowly began to recognize her. "Mrs. Goodman?"

"Why yes, I see you remember me too." Mrs. Goodman exclaimed. "My dear, Rachel. I've always been worried about you. Come. Come into my house, there's much to catch up on."

* * *

Rachel and Willy sat at Mrs. Goodman's table with coffee sitting in front of them, untouched. Mrs. Goodman's good natured self ignored their tired look, and chattered nonsensically. 

"How is Mr. Goodman?" Rachel asked, able to squeeze in a question.

"Oh, dear, he passed on a good six years ago. You've missed much since the fire." Mrs. Goodman said, losing a bit of cheer in her voice.

"What about the fire? When did it happen?" Rachel asked, eager to her this story.

"When? It happened just after you disappeared." Mrs. Goodman looked at her, suspiciously. "You do know that you parents died in that fire, don't you?"

"They died in a fire?" Rachel asked, not knowing that she let this out.

"Oh, yes dear. I'm sorry to be telling you this bad news..."

"No, I know that they died, but I didn't know how." Rachel tried to explain. "I just remember seeing cop cars, and nothing else."

"Yes, your mother said that you were like that." Mrs. Goodman said, shaking her head. "She said you'd wonder off, and then have a hard time remembering things."

"She wasn't my mother. I was adopted." Rachel said flatly. Willy sat back and watched the conversation. He did not have anything to add, for this was not his business.

"But she was, my dear." Mrs. Goodman reassured.

"Those weren't my parents." Rachel said, a little to forcefully.

"Please, Rachel, listen. You're mother was a good friend of mine. I was even executer of her will when she died." Mrs. Goodman said. She stood up and added before leaving the room, "I have to show you something."

When she returned, she handed a photograph to Rachel, and sat down again. Rachel stared at the picture and tried to make sense of it. "What is this?"

"It's a picture of you and your father...your real father." Mrs. Goodman said with a sigh. Rachel studied the picture harder, but could not remember it. It looked like it was taken when she was nine or so and she was sitting on a bunch of rocks next to a man.

"My father..." Rachel whispered, looking at the man, trying to recognize him. But she couldn't. "And what about my mother?"

"You've always know your real mother." Mrs. Goodman explained.

"What the hell happened?" Rachel asked, finally looking up at her old neighbor.

"Listen, it's not that easy to explain. Your mother told me all of this when we became good friends." Mrs. Goodman said, taking a sip of her coffee. And after clearing her throat, she told Rachel what she had been dying to hear for the last fifteen years, "Your mother fell in love with a man from a group of travelers. I guess in the old days, you'd call them gypsies, but that really wouldn't describe them now. See, she was very much in love with him, and he promised to stay with her for all time. They were to get married after she had you, but things changed.

"People in this very neighborhood didn't like your father's people staying here. They were driven out of here shortly after you were born, and your mother would not go with him. He didn't want to leave his people, his family behind, so he decided that he would leave too. Traveling had been in his family for years on end, and in the end, he couldn't stay tied down to her. She would have accepted his departure better, had he not taken you with him."

"I don't really understand. If my real father took me, how did I end up back with her?" Rachel asked, trying to understand all that was said.

"Well, one day, your mother heard a knock at the door, and there you were, standing there with that old backpack you still carry around. She never figured out how you had found her, or where you were for the last nine years. And you never talked about it either. It was almost like you didn't exist before that. So she and your step-father acted as if they adopted you."

"Why would they do that to me?" Rachel asked.

"Because, your step-father knew of your mother's past love, but he did not want her to deal with all of that. She had put that behind her, and seeing you so suddenly would have thrown her over the edge. They thought it would be better for you."

"I don't know how. Fifteen years of torture to find this out now." Rachel mumbled, and then looked up suddenly, asking, "But how did the fire start? They have to know how."

"That is something that everyone in this neighborhood knows, but no one has admitted to yet. Someone found out that your father was one of those travelers, and they wanted you out of the town. They set a fire as a warning, but it quickly got out of control. I really don't think they meant for your family to die." Mrs. Goodman admitted quietly.

"I knew it was my fault." Rachel said.

"Don't you ever think that! You couldn't change what others thought of you. You were only fourteen when this all happened."

"But it was still my fault." Rachel said, and then looked at Willy. He expected to see tears in her eyes, but he only saw tiredness.

"You need sleep." Willy said.

"Yes, I think you both do. It looks like you both have had quite a journey." Mrs. Goodman said, standing up to usher them to the upstairs guest rooms. "And Rachel, dear, please keep that picture. It's your by right."

Rachel only nodded and followed the woman with Willy. She was shown into a small guest room, and Willy into another. When the door closed, she took off her shoes and laid down on the bed. Rachel did not think she would be able to sleep, but when her head hit the pillow, she was out.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I own only Rachel White.**

**AN: Just one more post after this!**

Rachel woke up the next morning and saw the sun shinning in through the window. Willy sat in a chair, looking out the window, and turned when he saw her move.

"Good morning, starshine." Willy said in a good natured tone. He knew that Rachel would probably not be very cheerful, but he tried to make her happy. "I have some hot chocolate for you."

Willy picked up a cup that was sitting on the nightstand and handed it to his love. Rachel accepted it gladly and took a sip. It was just the right warmth, and she looked up at Willy with curiosity. "How did you keep it warm?"

"It's my own special recipe." Willy said with clear pride.

"You really are quite amazing." Rachel said with a smile, taking another sip. She sat there in silence with Willy until Mrs. Goodman called them down for breakfast. But those few minutes of silence made Rachel forget what had happened yesterday. She was truly happy with Willy around, she realized, and maybe her fruitless searching could finally stop. But she knew that was a lie. Now she needed to find her father.

* * *

Willy and Rachel had a pleasant breakfast with Mrs. Goodman, and after some protesting, Rachel made it clear that they had to leave that afternoon. Mrs. Goodman had given her a heartfelt hug before waving goodbye to her and Willy.

Rachel and Willy walked out of the neighborhood, putting their backs to the past grief, and their journey continued again.

"Now we can go back to the factory." Willy said as they walked down the road. They were far from the town by now, and the road was slowly being engulfed by the surrounding woods. They were completely alone out here.

"What? Will you stop with that already. I can't go back. Not yet." Rachel said, keeping a fast pace.

"Why do have to do this to yourself? Come back with me where it is safe. Nothing more will happen to you there." Willy pleaded. The answer he received was not what he expected. Rachel stopped abruptly and turned to him.

"Stop it! Will you just stop? That is not how the real world works. Everything does not turn out exactly like you want. This is not your factory, this is life." Rachel yelled.

"But..."

"No, no more buts. You have to grow up Willy. You can't hide behind your childhood forever. This is a hard world, I thought you knew that." Rachel said, about to return to her journey.

"You can't keep running away from this. You'll never find your father if you do that." Willy said, more as an adult.

"What?" Rachel asked, stopping to look at him, her mouth hung open. "How dare you accuse me of running away."

"That's what you're doing. When ever you find somewhere that you could call home, you up and leave. Why can't you just find a home? You are the one that makes yourself a wanderer."

"You bastard!" Rachel yelled, tears rolling down her face. She had had enough with him at this point. She went up to him, and pushed him. Willy never saw it coming, and he fell into the bush behind him. But he did not stop. Willy rolled down the hill that lay behind the bush, and when he finally stopped his long journey, he lay, stunned.

"Ouch." He said to himself. From up at the road, he heard Rachel rushing down the hill to find him.

"Oh, my god. Willy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that." Rachel said when she reached him. "You just got me so angry."

"It's okay. I shouldn't have said those things to you." Willy said, sitting up next to a kneeling Rachel. He looked up at her and tried to smile, but saw that she did not see him. She was looking at the clearing that he had rolled into.

"The picture." Was all that she could say. Willy understood her, though. In the clearing was the burnt remains of what looked like a campsite. But what caught his eye was the large rock formation on the edge of the clearing. It was the place that Rachel had sat with her dad in the picture. Without another word, Rachel stood up and ran to the rocks.

"Rachel, don't! Wait!" Willy yelled as he got up. She did not stop, and he ended up following her.

"I remember, Willy. I remember what happened." She said, not making sense to him. Rachel did not stop at the rocks, but continued on, through the woods. When Willy finally caught up with her, she was standing at yet another clearing. But as he got closer, he realized that it was not a clearing, but a cliff. The view was breathtaking, but Willy did not like how close Rachel stood to the edge.

"Rachel, step back, why don't you?" Willy said in a shaky voice.

"I remember, Willy." Rachel said again.

"Remember what?" Willy asked, inching closer to her. All he wanted to do was pull her back from the edge, and then he would listen to her. But she continued.

"There were men. I don't remember how many, but they came and burned down our camp. They were beating up the men and chasing after the women. I remember them yelling 'dirty gypsies' and my father didn't want them near me. It was so dark, but we ran through the woods as if it were light." Rachel said, looking over the cliff.

"And?" Willy prodded, still making his way closer to her.

"He didn't realize how far we had gone. He was holding my hand, and the next thing i knew was that I was drug down to the ground. He had stepped over the edge, and I would have been too, but my hand slipped from his grasp. I screamed for him, but I never got a reply. I waited until light came, crying the whole while and hiding from the men. When I was finally able to see, and crawled to the edge and looked down. I couldn't see him, but stuck on a rock just below the edge was his bag."

"His bag?" Willy asked, listening, but now that he was close enough to her, he wanted to make his move. Rachel turned to him suddenly, and he almost fell himself.

"Yes, his bag. My bag, the one I carry now. It's all I have of him, Willy." Rachel said, tears in her eyes. And then a horrible thought came to her. "Willy, do you think he's still down there? I never told anyone what happened. I couldn't."

Rachel said this and turned too quickly to look back over the edge. Willy saw her teeter on the edge, and pushed her back just in time, losing his own balance. But instead of falling back like Rachel, he slid over the edge.

"WILLY!" Rachel screamed, scrabbling to the edge. He was just able to grab hold of some protruding rocks to keep from going all the way down, but his hold would not last. Rachel leaned down to him, and grabbed both of his hands. Her backpack was still slung over one shoulder, and at this moment it slid off and hit Willy. He let got of one of her hands. Now Rachel lay on the ground, holding Willy in one hand, and her backpack, all she had of her father's, in the other. Without another thought, she let the backpack drop, and pulled Willy up with both hands.

Willy landed on top of her, and they laid like that for a while. Just panting and thinking of what had just happened. When Willy had finally gained his composure, he looked at Rachel.

"Your bag," was all that he could manage saying.

"I would rather give up all knowledge of my father than to ever let you go." Rachel said.

"It's all you had of him though."

"No, now I have my memory of him, thanks to you. That is all I need." She said, standing up. Willy joined her, and the both looked out over the edge. There was no sign of the bag. Willy put his arm around Rachel, and she turned to him, placing her face on his chest to cry.

"It's okay." Willy said, still calming down from his near fatal accident.

"I love you, Willy." Rachel said, through her tears, and Willy hugged her tighter.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wonka.**

**AN: Done, this is it. Thanks for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoy the end.**

Charlie had been looking out Willy's bedroom window every night before he went to bed. He was looking to see if they would ever return. But they never did.

But one day, an Oompa Loompa rushed over to Charlie in the inventing room. Charlie did not fully understand all of the signs, butquickly picked up on what he was trying to say. Charlie was supposed to follow him, and fast.

Charlie followed as the Oompa Loompa ran before him. He was led to the front doors of the factory, and Charlie's heart stopped. He knew what was on the other side of the doors. Willy would be there, but would Rachel? Slowly, he pushed open the doors.

Walking through the courtyard were two figures. Ands they approached the factory, Charlie recognized them to be Willy and Rachel, but there was something different about them. Willy seemed to be his old joyful self, and so did Rachel. The difference was that Willy held Rachel's hand in the crook of his elbow and Rachel's backpack was gone. Charlie let out a cry of joy as he ran towards them.

* * *

In the beautiful Chocolate room, laughter rung. A beautiful woman sat on a hill of eatable grass. She wore a white eyelet dress and she was hugging her knees as she looked around. There was a faint smile, ever present on her face.

A child's laugh caught her attention, and she turned to see her son, sitting close to her. He struggled to stand by himself, and when he finally managed to, she realized that he was trying to walk.

"Willy, come quickly!" Rachel called.

Willy stepped out from behind a candy tree, and rushed over to Rachel.

"What is it?" he asked with concern.

"It's your son, I think he's going to have his first step." Rachel said with a smile.

Willy knelt down in the grass next to his wife and watched his son. He held out his hands to his son to coax him forward.

"Come on, Wiley. I know you can do it." Willy said.

The proud parents watched Wiley as his took his first shaky step, and then another, before he fell.

"That's it! My precious, look what you did." Rachel said, feeling tears come to her eyes.

Willy stood up and rushed over to his son, picking him up into his arms. He held him tight as he turned in a circle.

"My boy, oh, my dear boy. Your first step. I'm so proud of you." Willy said with excitement, and turned to Rachel. "We should tell the rest of the family."

"In due time." Rachel said

"Aren't you excited?" Willy asked.

"Don't you remember, Willy? The first step is the start of any journey." Rachel answered.

Willy did not seem to get what she had just said as he sat down next to her, with Wiley still in his arms.

"He's going to have a wonderful journey." Willy assured.

Rachel, satisfied with his answer, returned her attention to her surroundings. She looked at the Chocolate room, her home. And when she looked back at her husband, she saw her family. Finally, she had found what she had been searching for and she smiled.

**AN: Well, that's it. Please take some time and review. And sorry for such a long delay, but at least it's finished.**


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